Supra-voice sound-responsive toy

ABSTRACT

A toy responds to sounds having a frequency above the frequencies of normal speech. The toy may also respond to other sounds, such as sounds having frequencies corresponding to the frequencies of normal speech. In such an embodiment, the toy may be responsive to sounds in different frequency ranges, and may have different reactions depending on the frequencies of the sounds detected. Further, the responsive frequency ranges may be separated by a third range of rejected frequencies. Sounds in the third range may not activate any toy functions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/472,313, filed May 20, 2003, and incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to sound-activated toys, andparticularly to toys that respond to sounds in one or more ranges offrequencies, such as sounds in a range of frequencies above frequenciesof normal human speech.

Sound responsive toys with non-voice-recognition based circuits arefound in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,119,201, 3,770,981, 4,207,696, 4,221,927,4,775,351, 5,090,936, 5,176,560, 5,324,225, 5,407,376, 5,429,513,6,039,626, and 6,413,141, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference. Recognition based circuits are found in U.S. Pat.Nos. 3,688,126, 4,780,906, and 4,817,155, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY

As mentioned, the present disclosure is directed to a toy that respondsto sounds having a frequency range above the frequencies of normalspeech. The toy may also respond to other sounds, such as sounds havingfrequencies corresponding to the frequencies of normal speech. In someembodiments, the toy is responsive to two or more ranges of spaced-apartfrequencies. In other words there may be a range of reject frequenciesto which the toy is not responsive, which reject frequencies are betweenranges of frequencies to which the toy responds. In some embodimentssuch a range of reject frequencies may include a range of normal humanspeech.

The toy may have advantageous use when embodied in the form of an actionfigure, such as a snake. In such an embodiment, the toy may beresponsive to one or more frequency bands, and may have differentreactions depending on the frequency bands detected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general block diagram of a sound-responsive toy.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a further embodiment of the toy of FIG. 1,which toy is responsive to different frequency ranges.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a circuit usable in an embodiment of the toy ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating operating characteristics of the circuitof FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a chart illustrating graphically operating characteristics ofthe circuit of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to FIG. 1, a toy shown generally at 10, includes abody 11, a sound detector 12, and an output apparatus 14. Sound detector12 and output apparatus 14 may be included in body 11. In someembodiments, sound detector 12 may be remote from the body, in whichcase body 11′, shown in dashed lines, contains only output apparatus 14.

In this example, sound detector 12 is adapted to detect a sound in arange of frequencies above normal human speech. Normal human speech isgenerally considered to be in the range of 300 Hz to 3000 Hz. Rather,sound detector 12 detects sounds that are significantly above this usualrange, referred to as supra-voice sounds, are detected and amplified. Arange of frequencies can include a single frequency or a plurality ofadjacent frequencies distributed between a low frequency and a highfrequency.

Sound detector 12 can be of various forms, such as a circuit or acontroller that includes a processor and a memory coupled to theprocessor for storing data and operating instructions. Such circuit orcontroller may be embodied as one or more of hardware, firmware, andsoftware. A processor may be any device, such as a computer,microprocessor, or other logic unit adapted to receive sounds from asound receiving device 15 and to control an output apparatus 14.

Sound detector 12 may produce one or more control signals, such as acontrol signal C, to output apparatus 14. Output apparatus 14 is adaptedto produce a sensible action when sound is detected in the range offrequencies above normal human speech. A sensible action is an actionthat can be sensed by one of the human senses. Examples of sensibleactions that a toy in the form of a snake may include moving a movablepart of the snake body, such as a snake tongue, eye, tail or other bodypart, illuminating lights positioned in the eyes, or making a sound,such as a hissing sound. The toy may produce one or several of suchactions in response to control signal C.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a toy 10 adapted to respond to twodifferent ranges of sounds. A sound detector 12 includes a soundreceiver 15 and a sound analyzer 16. Sound receiver 15 includes amicrophone 18 and a pre-amp 20. Microphone 18 is adapted to transducesound of a broad frequency range including a normal voice range and arange above the normal voice range, i.e., a supra-voice range, into anelectrical current or sound signal S. Pre-amp 20 then amplifies thesound signal to a convenient level for further processing.

The sound signal output from the pre-amp is split into a supra-voicepath 26 and a second path 28. In the supra-voice path 26, theconditioned received sound signals are transmitted to a filter 30. In anembodiment in which the frequency range detected on path 26 is higherthan that of path 28, filter 30 is a high-pass filter. The filteredsound signal is amplified by an op-amp 32 to raise the sound signallevel.

Filter 30 thus essentially filters out the normal voice sounds of aperson speaking into microphone 18. The high-frequency sounds are thenapplied to an amplitude detector 34. The amplitude detector puts out acontrol signal with a high value when the sound signal in the pass bandof filter 30 is sufficient. The amplitude detector produces a controlsignal C_(S) indicative of the receipt of a supra-voice sound. Thecontrol signal is then applied to a first action device 36, and anyother associated output apparatus that performs a sensible action by toy10.

Sound signals traveling along voice path 28 pass through a low passfilter 38 and an op-amp 40. The pass band of filter 38 filters out ofthe sound signal frequencies in the pass band of filter 30 in order toprovide a distinction between two different ranges of sounds. In oneembodiment of circuit 10, filter 38 allows normal human voicefrequencies to pass.

Similar to signal path 26, the filtered sound signal is then applied toan amplitude detector 42. Amplitude detector 42 produces a controlsignal C_(V) indicative of the receipt of a sound in the pass band offilter 38. The control signal is then applied to a second action device44 that performs a designated action by toy 10 that is preferablydifferent than an action produced by action device 36.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a circuit usable in toy 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2,and includes a sound detector 12 and an output apparatus 14. Sounddetector 12 includes a sound receiver 15 in the form of a microphone 18and pre-amp 20, and a sound analyzer 16.

Pre-amp 20 is shown as a two-stage amplifier having first and secondtransistors 22 and 24, although it also may be provided by an op-amp.The output of the pre-amp is identified as TP1. Representative valuesfor the gain applied to a detected sound are shown in the table of FIG.4, which data is represented as a graph in FIG. 5. The amplifier is seento have a broad bandwidth or frequency range extending from sub-audiblefrequencies to frequencies well above frequencies normally audible tohumans. This frequency range has a 3 dB bandwidth of about 150 Hz toabout 3 kHz, with a maximum gain at about 1 kHz. Signal gain is providedover a total range of about 10 Hz to about 300 kHz.

A sound signal S, output by the sound detector, is applied to soundanalyzer 16. The sound signal is split into a supra-voice path 26 and asecond path 28, which in this embodiment is a voice path. In thesupra-voice path 26, the conditioned received sound signal istransmitted to a high-pass filter 30 having a 3 dB pass band of about 7kHz to 15 kHz and a peak at about 10 kHz. This is a frequency band thatis outside the 3 dB pass band of the sound receiver, so it is amplifiedby an op-amp 32 to bring the center frequency up to a gain level similarto that applied to the pass band of pre-amp 20. The gain curve for thesignals output from op-amp 32 is identified as TP3 in the table andchart in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Filter 30 thus essentially filters out the normal voice sounds of aperson speaking into microphone 18. The high-frequency sounds are thenapplied to an amplitude detector 34 including an op-amp 46 and atransistor 48, shown in FIG. 3. If the signal output from op-amp 46 islarge enough, transistor 48 is turned on. This transistor then producesa control signal C_(S) at the collector indicative of the receipt of asupra-voice sound. The control signal is then applied to a first actiondevice, represented generally at 36, or other output apparatus, thatperforms a designated action by toy 10. In the circuit shown, the actiondevice is a light-emitting diode (LED) 50 that emits a distinctivecolor, such as red. This light may be used, for instance, to illuminatean eye when the toy is in the form of an action figure, such as a snake.

Sound signals traveling along voice path 28 pass through a low passfilter 38 and an op-amp 40. The resulting filtered sound signal isidentified as TP2 in the figures. It is seen that this filter has a passband of about 200 Hz to 1500 Hz, and a peak at about 800 Hz. This passband thus allows lower common voice frequencies to pass, whilesuppressing higher frequencies.

Similar to signal path 26, the low-frequency sounds are then applied toan amplitude detector 42, including an op-amp 52 and a transistor 54. Ifthe signal output from op-amp 52 is large enough, transistor 54 isturned on. This transistor then produces a control signal C_(V) at thecollector indicative of the receipt of a voice sound. The control signalis then applied to an action device 44 that performs a designated actionby toy 10 that is preferably different than an action produced uponreceipt of a supra-voice signal. In this example, the action device isan LED 56 that emits a distinctive color, such as yellow. Any otheraction that is sensible, or combination of sensible actions may beperformed.

Between the pass bands of filters 30 and 34 is essentially a suppressedor reject band 58. This band is between the frequencies of about 1.5 kHzand about 7 kHz and has comparatively steep edges. The suppression ofband 58 reduces the likelihood that the sounds having frequencies inthis band will result in activation of both supra-voice and voicetriggered action devices. Further, in order to activate thevoice-activated action device 44, it is necessary to speak with a lowervoice. There is thus substantial contrast between the sounds thatactivate action device 44 and the sounds that activate action device 36,thereby decreasing the likelihood that they will both be activated atthe same time, although it is possible to do so.

Although not specifically shown, logic circuits may be applied to theoutputs of the amplitude detectors, to produce different actionsdepending on whether only a voice signal or only a supra-voice signal isreceived, or both types of signals are received. As an example, if bothtypes of signals are received, related or coordinated actions could beproduced, such as moving the same toy part in different ways or movingdifferent parts connected together.

Even though the supra-voice signals are above normal speech, it has beenfound that people can generate oral sounds in the pass band of filter 30if enough energy is used in making the sounds. For instance, apronounced and emphatic hissing sound made primarily by pushing airthrough the oral cavity while the oral cavity is nearly blocked by anenlarged tongue, by blowing through clenched teeth, or a combination ofboth, it is possible to produce sounds in this frequency band. It istherefore a challenge for people to make the toy activate thesupra-voice-activated actions, and it is an even greater challenge toactivate such actions without activating the voice-activated actions.This operation thus allows a user of the toy to “speak” a “language”understood by the toy that is not understood in normal human speech.This is analogous to the ability of the fictional character Harry Potterto speak to a parsle-mouthed snake.

It is intended that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multipledistinct inventions with independent utility. The specific embodimentsdisclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limitingsense as numerous variations are possible. For instance, componentshaving shared functions may be embodied in separate components andcomponents having separate functions may be embodied in componentshaving shared functions. The subject matter of the inventions includesall novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of thevarious elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosedherein. Similarly, where the disclosure recites “a” or “a first” elementor the equivalent thereof, such language should be understood to includeone or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or moresuch elements. Further, cardinal indicators, such as first, second orthird, for identified elements are used to distinguish between theelements, and do not indicate a required or limited number of suchelements, nor does it indicate a particular position or order of suchelements unless otherwise specifically stated.

Inventions embodied in various combinations and subcombinations offeatures, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed throughpresentation of claims in a related application. Such claims, regardlessof their scope, are regarded as included within the subject matter ofthe present disclosure.

1. A toy comprising: a body; a sound detector adapted to detect sound inat least a first frequency range above normal human speech; and anoutput apparatus mounted in the body and adapted to produce a firstsensible action when sound is detected in the first frequency range. 2.The toy of claim 1, wherein the sound detector is further adapted todetect sound in a second frequency range different than the firstfrequency range, and the output apparatus is further configured toproduce a second sensible action when sound is detected in the secondfrequency range.
 3. The toy of claim 2, in which the second frequencyrange includes frequencies of normal human speech.
 4. The toy of claim3, in which the sound detector rejects frequencies in an upper range ofnormal human speech.
 5. The toy of claim 3, in which the sound detectorrejects frequencies between the first and second frequency ranges. 6.The toy of claim 5, in which the first frequency range includes afrequency of about 10 kHz, and the second frequency range includes afrequency of about 1 kHz.
 7. The toy of claim 6, in which the sounddetector rejects a third frequency range that is more than twice thesecond frequency range.
 8. The toy of claim 5, in which the sounddetector rejects a frequency of about 3 kHz.
 9. The toy of claim 8, inwhich the sound detector rejects frequencies in the range of about 2 kHzto 5 kHz.
 10. The toy of claim 5, in which the frequencies in the firstfrequency range are more than four times the frequencies in the secondfrequency range.
 11. The toy of claim 1, in which the body includes atleast one movable part, and in which the sensible action includes one ormore of illuminating a light, producing a sound, and moving the at leastone movable part.
 12. A toy comprising: a body; a sound detector adaptedto detect sound in first and second frequency ranges and to excludefrequencies in a third frequency range between the first and secondranges; and an output apparatus mounted in the body and configured toproduce at least a first sensible action when the detected sound isdetermined to be in one or both of the first and second frequencyranges.
 13. The toy of claim 12, in which the first frequency rangeincludes frequencies of normal human speech, and the second frequencyrange includes frequencies above normal human speech.
 14. The toy ofclaim 13, in which the third frequency range includes frequencies ofnormal human speech.
 15. The toy of claim 13, in which the firstfrequency range includes a frequency of about 1 kHz, and the secondfrequency range includes a frequency of about 10 kHz.
 16. The toy ofclaim 13, in which the third frequency range includes a frequency ofabout 3 kHz.
 17. The toy of claim 16, in which the third frequency rangeincludes frequencies in the range of about 2 kHz to 5 kHz.
 18. The toyof claim 12, in which the frequencies in the second frequency range aremore than four times the frequencies in the first frequency range. 19.The toy of claim 12, further comprising at least one movable part, andin which the sensible action includes one or more of illuminating one ormore lights, producing one or more sounds, and moving the at least onemovable part.
 20. A toy comprising: a body; a sound receiver mounted inthe body and adapted to receive sounds in a first frequency rangeincluding sounds having frequencies between at least about 1 kHz and 10kHz; a first sound analyzer coupled to the sound receiver and adapted toproduce a first control signal indicative of sound received in a secondfrequency range below about 2 kHz; a second sound analyzer coupled tothe sound receiver and adapted to produce a second control signalindicative of sound received in a third frequency range above about 5kHz; a first output device mounted in the body, responsive to the firstcontrol signal, and adapted to produce a first sensible action whensound in the first frequency range is received; and a second outputdevice mounted in the body, responsive to the second control signal, andadapted to produce a second sensible action when sound in the secondfrequency range is received.
 21. A method of operating a toy having abody, comprising: detecting sound in at least a first frequency rangeabove normal human speech; and producing a sensible action in the bodywhen sound is detected in the first frequency range.
 22. The method ofclaim 21, further comprising detecting sound in a second frequency rangedifferent than the first frequency range, and producing a secondsensible action in the body when sound is detected in the secondfrequency range.
 23. The method of claim 22, in which the secondfrequency range includes frequencies of normal human speech.
 24. Themethod of claim 23, further comprising rejecting frequencies in an upperrange of normal human speech.
 25. The method of claim 23, furthercomprising rejecting frequencies between the first and second frequencyranges.
 26. The method of claim 25, in which the first frequency rangeincludes a frequency of about 10 kHz, and the second frequency rangeincludes a frequency of about 1 kHz.
 27. The method of claim 26, furthercomprising rejecting a third frequency range that is more than twice thesecond frequency range.
 28. The method of claim 25, further comprisingrejecting a frequency of about 3 kHz.
 29. The method of claim 28, inwhich rejecting a frequency includes rejecting frequencies in a range ofabout 2 kHz to 5 kHz.
 30. The method of claim 25, in which thefrequencies in the first frequency range are more than four times thefrequencies in the second frequency range.
 31. The method of claim 21,in which the body includes at least one movable part, and in whichproducing a sensible action includes one or more of illuminating alight, producing a sound, and moving the at least one movable part. 32.A method of operating a toy having a body, comprising: detecting soundin first and second frequency ranges; rejecting frequencies in a thirdfrequency range between the first and second ranges; and producing inthe body at least a first sensible action when the detected sound isdetermined to be in one or both of the first and second frequencyranges.
 33. The method of claim 32, in which the first frequency rangeincludes frequencies of normal human speech, and the second frequencyrange includes frequencies above normal human speech.
 34. The method ofclaim 33, in which the third frequency range includes frequencies ofnormal human speech.
 35. The method of claim 33, in which the firstfrequency range includes a frequency of about 1 kHz, and the secondfrequency range includes a frequency of about 10 kHz.
 36. The method ofclaim 33, in which the third frequency range includes a frequency ofabout 3 kHz.
 37. The method of claim 36, in which the third frequencyrange includes frequencies in the range of about 2 kHz to 5 kHz.
 38. Themethod of claim 32, in which the frequencies in the second frequencyrange are more than four times the frequencies in the first frequencyrange.
 39. The method of claim 32, further comprising at least onemovable part, and wherein the sensible action includes one or more ofilluminating one or more lights, producing one or more sounds, andmoving the at least one movable part.
 40. A method of operating a toyhaving a body, comprising: receiving in the body sounds in a firstfrequency range including sounds having frequencies between at leastabout 1 kHz and 10 kHz; producing first and second sound signalsrepresentative of sound received in the first frequency range; filteringout of the first sound signal portions of the first sound signalrepresentative of sound having frequencies above about 2 kHz; producingfrom the filtered first sound signal, a first control signal indicativeof sound received in a second frequency range below about 2 kHz;filtering out of the second sound signal portions of the second soundsignal representative of sound having frequencies below about 5 kHz;producing from the filtered second sound signal, a second control signalindicative of sound received in a third frequency range above about 5kHz; producing a first sensible action in the body when the firstcontrol signal is produced; and producing a second sensible action inthe body when the second control signal is produced.
 41. A toycomprising: a body; means for detecting sound in at least a firstfrequency range above normal human speech; and means for producing asensible action in the body when sound is detected in the firstfrequency range.
 42. The toy of claim 41, further comprising means fordetecting sound in a second frequency range different than the firstfrequency range, and means for producing a second sensible action in thebody when sound is detected in the second frequency range.
 43. The toyof claim 42, in which the second frequency range includes frequencies ofnormal human speech.
 44. A toy comprising: a body; means for detectingsound in first and second frequency ranges; means for rejectingfrequencies in a third frequency range between the first and secondranges; and means for producing in the body at least a first sensibleaction when the detected sound is determined to be in one or both of thefirst and second frequency ranges.
 45. The toy of claim 44, in which thefirst frequency range includes frequencies of normal human speech, andthe second frequency range includes frequencies above normal humanspeech.
 46. The method of claim 45, in which the third frequency rangeincludes frequencies of normal human speech.